A Day in the Life – 20 Months

As we near near the middle of December, K and I are finally starting to get into a routine. I have been taking some time off from work since just before Thanksgiving and I am spending 2 full days a week with him as well as 3 afternoons (he is still in preschool/daycare 3 days a week, 6 hours a day). I’m doing some consulting which is what I use those childcare days for.

K is 20+ months now and growing and learning more each day. I love getting to see how much he changes in such a short time.

On our full days together, our day usually goes something like this (this is what happened today):

6:30-7:15 – Wake up time. I get K from his crib and bring him back for snuggles and nursing in our bed.

7:15-8:00 – Hang out together in the living room, read books, snack on some berries, drink coffee or tea (me) play with cars and trains and ramps, etc… while we both fully wake up.

8:00-8:30 – B gets up and hangs out with K while I start on breakfast. We usually have some combination of eggs, yogurt, bacon or veggie sausage, toast, fruit, or oatmeal. Today we happened to have scrambled eggs on english muffins with melted cheese. K just had the eggs and a yogurt.

8:30-9:00 – Breakfast time. B leaves for work somewhere between 9-9:30 and then it’s just me and K.

9:00-10:00 – Straighten up the house, get dressed and ready for the day.

10-11:45 – My cleaning lady came today so I let her in and walked her through what needed to be done. Then we went for a walk to the main street in Hoboken (Washington Street) because I needed to pick up a few presents. After that we went to the playroom in our building and played with toys for a while.

(In the morning we usually do an activity such as: walk to the park, cook something in the kitchen, draw with crayons or finger paint, read books, play with trains some more. If K is entertaining himself I might get into some heavier cleaning, organizing, reading, or do work of some sort.)

11:45 – 2:00 – We headed into the city today to meet up with B and another couple (our former neighbors) plus their ten month old little girl. We ate lunch at BCD Tofu House in Koreatown. I got the Bibimbap lunch special which also came with a small soondofu seafood soup. K fell asleep for a few minutes at the start of lunch but was awake the rest of the time. He ate a lot of fish and rice.

IMG_3329

(K usually naps from 12:30-2:30 or so.)

2:00-3:00 – We headed back to Hoboken, stopped at another store to pick up another present, and came home. I took a short work call that ended in K crying (because his car fell off the table) and then I nursed him briefly to get him to take his nap. It worked.

3:00-5:00 – K naps. I work, write this post, answer some emails from my lawyer (we’re in contract on a home out in central NJ), and will probably try to get in a little bit of reading. Sometimes I do a work out video or take a nap myself during his naptime.

5:00-6:30 – I prep dinner, K plays with various trains, puzzles, cars. At this point I will sometimes put on Little Einsteins for him so I can focus on cooking. We are doing Blue Apron so I cook that three nights a week; the other four nights I will either make something simple like pasta or we’ll order in or go out with friends. If B cooks he likes to make something more interesting than my simple meals. Sometimes K “helps” me in the kitchen on his Learning Tower. I chill out and read if there’s time. Tonight’s dinner is Spiced Pork Chops with Charred Poblano Salsa & Sweet Potato Mash .

2P_110315_2_R_120115_5_PorkChops&MashedSweetPotatoes

6:30-8:00 – We hang out, dinner is usually ready around 7 (which is when B normally gets home), then we eat and have more storytime after dinner.

8:00-9:00 – B does bedtime routine – bath and then bed. He sits with K until K falls asleep (which sometimes happens in 5 minutes and sometime a lot longer).

9:00-on – If I’ve managed to stay awake this long, B and I will hang out and maybe watch something on Netflix (sometimes while eating ice cream). (I have NOT been able to stay awake lately due to the fact that I am – surprise! – pregnant again, so this does not happen often… what usually happens is I pass out on the couch or in bed just around when K does. By the way, I am nearing 13 weeks now and my due date is in late June.)

I give major major kudos to those who are stay at home moms. The job of being a mom is way harder than the job I had when I was full time in the office. I am treasuring it now because I will go back to work at some point in the near future!

Would love to hear your ideas for activities to do with a 20 month old. They are so inquisitive 🙂

Until next time!

What I Ate Wednesday

I had to keep track of what I ate for a day for something, so I figured – why not take pictures and post a What I Ate Wednesday?

Breakfast:

breakfast

This is 1 scrambled egg with some swiss (Jarlsberg) and sauteed onions. I also had a slice of whole grain toast with butter, a pear (some of it is unpictured – I was snacking as I prepped the plate), some sliced tomato (from Maria’s garden in NJ – Maria is my Grammie’s caretaker), sauteed onions, and sauerkraut (homemade by Maria).

It was really delicious. I have been eating a lot of sauerkraut lately because Maria gave me a big container of it.

I also had an unpictured 1/2 cup of coffee with coconut creamer.

Lunch:

lunch

This was from a place called Essen. They have a hot/cold bar so I got a little bit of everything – salad, fish, chicken, cauliflower, and a piece of a turkey wrap.

Unpictured lunch dessert: iced coffee with cream + 1 mini reeses cup.

Afternoon snack: the picture came out terribly, so I will just explain – I had some veggie sides from an organic store a few blocks from my office. A couple squashes (kabocha and acorn) and a small scoop of curry stew.

Dinner: was with Bobby and a friend at Bareburger. (The friend recently got a job at my company and he wanted to take us out.) I got the “California” burger with a farmers quinoa veggie burger. It came in a lettuce wrap with avocado, cheddar, watercress, and tomato (hold the onions). We all shared the rings & fries side with assorted ketchups. (These are not my pictures; I didn’t really want to bust out the camera in public.)

veggie-burger

(source)

rings-fries

(source)

Dessert: was a couple small peaches from my Grammie’s peach tree. Another NJ find.

By the time we got home it was late and B and I both crashed into bed. Another productive Wednesday 🙂

What is your favorite kind of burger?

Mine is anything with avocado / bacon / cheese!

JP Morgan Corporate Challenge: Race Recap

On Wednesday night I ran in JP Morgan’s Corporate Challenge. It’s a 3.5 mile race in Central Park.

NYCCourseMap

Wednesday night was also Bobby’s birthday and his band (The Balls) had a show in Brooklyn.

The race started at the 72nd Street Transverse, wound up above and around the reservoir to about 104th street, and then came down on the east side. I finished the race in 35:51.

race-time

I have to be honest, when other people write “race recaps” I usually end up skimming them. So I will not be offended if you skim this.

In the beginning there were a lot of people and we were getting shuffled around (7pm). I was in the blue group, which was the slowest of the faster groups (the first waves to go). We had all submitted time estimates in advance, which is how we got grouped – red was the fastest, then yellow, then green, then blue. Orange and white (white is walking) were separate from us and started once red/yellow/green/blue had all gone.

maggie-race

We shuffled towards the starting line for almost 15 minutes after the 7pm starting time passed, and when I passed the starting line I began to jog (around 7:14pm). The first mile was my fastest. I think I kept about an 8.5-minute pace. There were only a few uphills and a couple of fortuitous downhills. At the water station after mile 1 I drank a cup and poured some water on my head.

Mile two was a little slower, probably a 9.5-minute mile. This mile started getting hilly and I realized that my training runs had been slower than I was running now. I didn’t stop though, and ran past the 2-mile mark.

Mile 3. There was no water in sight after the mile 2 mark and my chest was begging me for a break, so I started walking. I didn’t walk for long, maybe 30 seconds, but it was enough for me to get some energy back and continue. I took a slow jog up to the next water station, and drank some more. After that I felt great but then we hit some hills. I had to walk I think 2 more times and my time probably ended up being over 12 minutes for this mile.

Last half mile. I was jogging slowly at this point, but I knew I was close so I kept going. I walked once for about 15 seconds. When I got close to the finish line I picked up the pace, saw Bobby on the sideline, and ran past him for a high five. I sprinted after that, maybe 100 yards, and crossed the finish! I felt like I was going to puke but I didn’t. 😀

Lessons learned:

  1. I love racing! There is something so exciting and fun about running in such a large group of people.
  2. I am slower than I thought, but I think I can improve. I didn’t train for this except for a couple 2-3 mile runs over the last two months. On those runs I didn’t check my time and I did not run on hills.
  3. Running can be really fun. It’s also challenging.
  4. Water stations are great.

After the race I met up with Bobby and we booked it to Brooklyn for his show. He was supposed to go on at 8:45 and we made it just before 8:40 with just enough time to set up his keys. After the show we had a fantastic dinner at this place: The Anchored Inn. There are so many good cheap places to eat in Brooklyn. Sometimes it makes me wonder why I still live in Manhattan and pay $15 for a salad…

I got a delicious large $9 salad: radish, cucumber, avocado, queso fresco, pumpkin seed, pickled onion, chile vinaigrette. Bobby got the bacon wrapped hot dog. We split roasted Brussels sprouts: brussels with pickled apple, serrano, horsey sauce.

Yesterday I was a bit sore but nothing terrible. Last night I ended up going out with coworkers + Bobby and didn’t sleep well afterwards so I was up early today. This morning I went for a nice slow walk over to Central Park where I saw this weird pink fluffy tree (what is it?):

pink-fluffy-tree-central-park

Have you ever raced before?

{Macrobiotic March} Some Macrobiotic Meals (at home and out!)

Those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning may have noticed the shift from eating at home often (probably 5 nights a week) to eating out… a lot. The shift happened slowly over time as I transitioned from my first job in CA, to freelancing in CA (part time), to working full time again when we moved to NYC, to working more and more! I’m not complaining about work. My career is going better than I could have ever dreamed. I love my job and I love my coworkers. I am challenged every day with real problems that I can solve.

BUT – with working so much, I just don’t make the time to cook at home. While I am sure I could make the time, it’s not a priority for me right now.

So I try to find healthy options for eating out.

Keeping with the theme of Macrobiotic March, here are some of my favorite macro meals I have eaten (out) lately. And one macro meal that I made.

A few weeks ago I got lunch with an internet friend (we go back years now) at a vegetarian restaurant in midtown called Zen Palate. The lunch and the company were great. This is what I ordered:

zen-palate-lunch-special

The dish is called Shredded Melody. It’s shredded soy protein stir-fried with celery, carrots, zucchini and pine nuts in a light garlic sauce. It came with a brown and red rice mix and 2 spring rolls. I ate most at the restuarant and had the leftovers at my desk a few hours later.

Another night, after dinner at Souen, Bobby and I shared the Cocoa Creamy Parfait: cocoa mousse with vanilla soy cream and granola.

macrobiotic-cocoa-pudding-mousse-souen

Really delicious. I do prefer their scones though…

Another night I got takeout from Souen because I was in a rush. I had this meal after a vigorous yoga class at Pure:

macro-plate-takeout-souen

Takeout Macro Plate: an ideal blance of steamed greens (collards usually), vegetables (carrots, broccoli), brown rice, beans (chickpeas here – my favorite), and hijiki seaweed.

I also got this dessert the same night…

macrobiotic-scone-souen-cranberry-orange

A Macrobiotic Scone – the cranberry orange version.

Sometimes I do cook at home. One night I made this healthy fried rice variation:

macrobiotic-fried-rice-kabocha-brussels

Homemade macrobiotic fried rice with Trader Joe’s Healthy 8 Veggie Mix, Brussels sprouts, sesame seeds, and some teriyaki sauce. Steamed kabocha on the side, and yes I had seconds. I think this was another post-yoga meal.

Another night Bobby and I went to Hu Kitchen, a new paleo restaurant near his office. Hu Kitchen is on 5th Ave between 13th and 14th streets (right near Souen). Hu says, ‘For us, getting back to eating like humans means eating foods we would find in nature or foods minimally processed using only basic, mechanical methods.

hu-kitchen-farmers-plate-cauliflower-butternut-squash-greens

I got The Herbivore: 3 veggie sides of the day. I picked creamed cauliflower with coconut milk, roasted butternut squash, and sauteed greens. That little brown thing you see is grain-free bread. All of it – absolutely amazing. I could have licked the plate. It’s a little pricey – this dish was $10 and it was not that big. We ended up getting a paleo dessert, too (chocolate chia pudding) but the picture didn’t come out well. It looked like ass so you will just have to trust me that it tasted delicious.

SO – that’s what I have been eating lately. I actually have some more macro meals but I will save them for another time. I have to get to work!

Couple other things I wanted to mention:

  • I have accidentally been pescetarian this month except for 1 meal (a pasta dish this weekend).
  • I have had diet soda only 2 times this month. (!) One day that I had it, later on I found myself at the cafe downstairs buying a cookie – the only time I was craving sugar in a few weeks. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I think diet soda makes you crave sweets.
  • Bobby and I are planning on doing vegetarian April! (Vegetarian = pescetarian for us.)
  • Elise @ Hungry Hungry Hippie had a macrobiotic-inspired meal the other day. MMM kale.
  • Heather made those yummy cookies I linked to last week.

Have you had any delicious macrobiotic meals lately? Are you a diet soda person? Do you eat meat and/or fish, or are you vegetarian or vegan?

Sister Visits & Souen Suppers

My sister came to visit me this weekend.

I had to work yesterday, but after work we all convened downtown (me, Julia, and Bobby) near Bobby’s office to get something for dinner. Bobby suggested Souen, and who am I to disagree! Julia also enjoys Souen though she says it’s a little bland sometimes 😉

So let’s see, what did we get…

Julia ordered the cornbread with a side of miso-tahini spread. (But we all shared it.)

feb282010007.jpg

I got Squash Tofu – my absolute favorite dish at Souen. (My other favorite is the macro plate.) Squash Tofu is a sauteed mix of fresh vegetables – broccoli, napa cabbage, onions, soft/medium tofu, carrots, kabocha squash, and probably more that I am forgetting. The sauce is of the miso/tahini variety (a common theme at Souen).

squash-tofu-souen-instagram

Souen’s Squash Tofu (with a side of brown rice)

Julia opted for the Inspired Vegetable Curry – a delicious mix of broccoli, carrots, squash (kabocha), cauliflower, mushrooms, and more + a savory Indian spice-inspired sauce.

inspired-vegetable-curry-souen-instagram

Souen’s Inspired Vegetable Curry (with a side of brown rice)

And last but certainly not least, Bobby got Souen’s Stir-Fried Noodles with soba noodles as his entree. Tons of veggies including lotus root and snap peas, topped with some seaweed flakes. It’s in a mushroomy-gingery sauce.

soba-noodle-stir-fry-souen

Souen’s Stir-Fried Noodles

After dinner I got a macrobiotic scone. Here a recipe for macrobiotic scones that I have been meaning to resurrect – it’s from 2009. And I found this Eden Foods recipe for Cranberry Walnut macro scones too.

Do you like macrobiotic food? Which dish would you pick at Souen? Do you like math?